Switching mechanism for interconnecting telephone-lines.



Patented Jan. 28, I902.

A. K. ,ANDRIANO. SWITCHING MECHANISM FOR INTEBCUNNECTING TELEPHONE LINES.

(Application filed Apr. 16, 1900. Renev vedJune 22, 1901.)

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N0. 692,|89. Patented Jan. 28, I902.

- A. K. ANDRIANO.

SWITCHING MECHANISM FOR INTERCONNEGTING TELEPHONE LINES.

' (Application filed Apr. 16, 1900. Rehewed Juns 22, 1901.)

2 Sheets$heet 2.

(No Model.)

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seams mans c0. mommy UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

ALBERT K. ANDRIANO, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE AUTOMATIC INTERCONNEOTING TELEPHONE COMPANY, OF SAN FRAN- CISCO, CALIFORNIA, INCORPORATED.

SWITCHING MECHANISM FOR INTERCONNECTING TELEPHONE-LINES.

SPEGZFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 692,189, dated. January 28, 1902. Application filed April 16, 1900. Renewed June 22,1901. Serial No. 65,544. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT K. ANDRIANO, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city and county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Switching Mechanism for Intercounecting Telephone-Lines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements made in switching mechanism for telephone systems composed of a'comparatively small number of lines combined for operation on the interconnecting plan, wherein eachparty through the switch mechanism at his own instrument has individual connection with the other instruments in the system to callup and talk with any other party without the interposition of a central station and an operator.

2c The object of the invention is to provide a switch mechanism of enlarged capacity capable of affording connection with a considerable number of lines on the interconnecting plan and-of such compact form and arrange- 2 5 ment that a considerable number of line-contacts, together with the entire switch mechanism, can be contained in the base of a portable telephone-stand for the desk or table.

The invention further provides a means in 0 connection with the switching mechanism for locking the movable contact-arm when the instrument is not in use, whereby the switch cannot be moved 01f the home contact of the instrument until the receiver is taken 0E the telephone-hook for use and the switch cannot be moved and left oif the line of the instrument by careless or mischievous persons playing or tampering with the same.

The following description explains atlength 0 the nature of the said invention and the man-' nor in which I proceed to construct, apply, and carry out the same, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

5 lhedrawingsillustratetheimprovedswitch mechanism as applied to and embodied in a desk-telephone or portable instrument containing all the switch operating and locking mechanism in its base; butit should be understood that the same are applicable to and 5c readily arranged in a stationary instrument to be fixediu a permanent manner to the wall.

Figure 1 is an elevation of adesk-telephone containing the switch mechanism in its base. Fig. 2 is an elevation taken from the lefthand side of Fig. 1, with the shell or body of the stand in section. Fig. 3 is a section taken horizontally through the base at the line a m, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a plan or top view of the base-block, showing the circle of stationary 6o line-contacts, the movable switch-arm, and parts of the mechanism for moving and setting it. Fig. 5 is a plan or top view of Fig.

3 on an enlarged scale, with the stationary top plate broken away to expose parts beneath. Fig. 6 is an elevation, principally in longitudinal section, on an enlarged scale, of the base-block and the switch-operatin g mechanism. Fig. 7 is a plan in detail of parts of the locking mechanism. Fig. Sis an elevation, principally in section, of the same parts.

The principal parts of the switch mechanism comprise a circle of stationary line-contacts a a, a traveling arm b, carrying the movable contact 0 of the switch and movable in a circle over the stationary contacts, an annular dial-plate d, moving uniformly with the contact I) c behind a sight-opening e in the inclosing case A and bearing the switch-numbers on its upper or outer face, and a settingshaft f, geared into the switch-arm by a spurgear h and a pinion i, by which the contactarm is turned and set from the outside of the case.

The stationary contacts a a, through which all the instruments in the system are interconnected in the usual way, are arranged in a circle upon an insulating base-block g, the individual line-wires being carried from the outside through holes 7c and fastened to the 0 contacts. A separate frame composed of a top and bottom plate 22 w, united by posts as w, carries the contact-arm b and its setting and locking mechanism. This frame is supported in the open center of the base-block by arms 5 y y, fastened to the top plate and extending over the contacts to the rim of the base-block, to which they are secured by screws 2'. The

movable contact-arm under the bottom plate is fixed on the end of aspindle or short shaft 2, fitted to turn in bearings 3 3 in the frame, and the arm has aclear sweep all around the circle of contacts on the surrounding baseblock. The annular dial-plate being rigidly attached to the shaft 2 by radial arms 4 4, the two parts move together as the shaft 2 is turned by means of the shaftf and the gear and pinion h 2', connecting the two shafts together, as before described. The position of the movable contact-arm with relation to the fixed contacts is always indicated by the switch-number on the dial that is exposed to view at the sight-opening, and the movable arm is set to any selected line by turning the knob 5 on the end of the setting-shaft in the direction indicated by the small arrow until the number on the dial corresponding to the number of the required switch is shown at the sight opening. In its movement from right to left, as indicated by the arrow in Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 7, the movable contact 1) leaves the line-contact or home contact of the instrument and traverses the circle of station ary contacts until the required number on the switch-dial is seen at the opening. On reaching that point the arm I) is held on the contact a by that one of the two dogs 6 7 which prevents the gear 77. from turning backward or from left to right, but allows it to turn forward. In this forward movement the coiled spring m, attached at one end to the gear and at the other to the stationary frame, is put in tension to throw back the contactarm to its starting-point at the home contact when the gear is released by the dog 7. The other dog 6 when thrown into the teeth of the gear prevents the contact-arm from moving forward and looks it on the home contact, and thus while the dog 7controls the gear in one direction of its motion the other dog 6 locks the switch and holds the contact-arm on the users individual line until the gear is unlocked again. These dogs are brought into action singly, and as one is set into engagement with the gear the other is moved away and held out of action mechanically from the movements of the telephone-hook on its pivot, so as to lock the switch while the receiver B remains on its hook 13 and to release the switch for operation only when the receiver is taken off. Thelockingdeviceto preventtheswitcharm from being moved off the home contact of the instrument except when a switch is to be made by the user is thus thrown into and out of action through the movements of the telephone-hook as the receiver is taken off for use, and the same mechanism throws back the switch-arm to zero or the home contact after a switch and as soon as the receiver is hung up. This locking device (shown in Figs. 6, 7, and 8) is composed of the two dogs 6 7, pivoted at s s on the bottom plate and engaging the spur-gear h from opposite di rections, the rocking switch-piece 8, hung on pivots 9, the slide-plate at, having a downwardly-bent leaf or memberp,with an inclined slot t, and the rod 10 and coiled spring 12, through which the movements of the telephone-hook 13 on its pivot 14 are caused to depress and hold down the slide a 19 when the receiveris hung up and to release and throw up the slide when the receiver is taken down forv use. On the switch-piece 8 two rigid arms 15 16, extending horizontally in opposite directions at an angle to each other, make contact with the upright pins 17 17 in one or the other of the two dogs, according to the direction in which the piece is thrown,

whether to the right or the left, thereby setting and holding one dog out of action and allowing the spring 18 behind the other dog to throw that piece into the gear. A bar or third arm 20 on the switch-piece S midway between its two rigid arms extends horizontally toward the center of the frame and into the slot 75 in the slide, which has such degree of inclination out of the perpendicular that the vertical movement of the slide 12 19 produces oscillating movement of the switch-piece on its pivots, in one direction acting on the dog 6 and in the opposite direction on the dog 7. The downwardly-bent member of the slide extends through an opening in the top plate, and the slide is provided with a tubular post 22 on the top, fitted to slide on afixed guidepost 23 on the top plate. This guide-post is set in line with the push-rod 10, loosely attached at 24 to the lever of the telephone-hook between the pivot 14 and the hook and havinga hollow lower end 26 fitting loosely upon the end of the guide-post 22 and resting on the top of the tubular guide 23. The coiled spring 12, setting against the lower side of the slide-plate, throws that piece upward when the weight of the receiver is taken off the hook and by lifting the slide 72 p throws the switch-piece 8 into the position represented in Fig. 7, thereby setting back the lockingdog 6 and releasing the dog 7. In this position of the parts the gear h is free to turn in the direction of the arrow, but is held at any point in its rotation wherever it may be set until the dog is thrown away from the gear by the reverse movement of the switch-piece 8, which takes place when the slotted slide h s is depressed by the downward movement of the telephone-hook. By this means the movable switch-arm is looked as long as the telephone-hook is held down by the receiver and the switching mechanism is inoperative until after thetelephone-hook is released by the person desiring to use theinstrument.

To prevent the dogs 6 and 7 from engaging the gear and holding or locking the same before the arm has completed its travel and returned to the required position on the home contact, a pivoted latch setting in operative relation to each dog engages a pin or stop on the upper side of the dog and holds that piece back until the arm has finished its movement, at which moment the latch is thrown back by a stop-pin on the top side of the gear and the ICC dog is free to move into the teeth of the gear h under the action of the spring 18.

The latch 27, that controls the dog 6, is pivoted at 28 and is thrown back by a stop-pin 29 on the gear. The latch 30, controlling the other dog t', is pivoted at 31 and is acted upon by the stop-pin 32 to release the dog at the proper time. A shoulder 33 on one latch engages the pin 17 on one dog, and a similar shoulder 34 catches and holds the pin 17 on the other dog.

In the substitution of individual switching and ringing devices at each telephone to dispense with the service of an operator and place each user in the system into connection with all the other lines on the system it becomes necessary not only to overcome the complicated arrangement of the central switchboard, so as to place every line in the system on the switch at each instrument, but also to provide against carelessness or forgetfulness on the part of the user in returning his own instrument to the line again after having connected with another party for talking. The first of these objections is overcome by the construction of the switching mechanism above described, which is of such simple character and compact arrangement that it can be dis posed and concealed within the base of a portable stand no larger than the ordinary single-line desk-telephone, and the second is entirely removed by providing an automatic switch-locking device whereby the switchsetting mechanism is locked when not in use and remains so until the receiver is taken from its hook, and, on the other hand, when the receiver is hung up after use the switch is thrown back automatically on the line again. Provision is thus made for the carelessness of the user and for the accidental disturbance of the switch by mischievous or thoughtless persons who in playing with the switch may throw and leave the instrument off the line. These risks and contingencies affecting the practical and continuous operation of the lines are eifectively provided for and guarded against in the foregoing construction.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim thereon as new, and desire to se: cure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a telephone-switch, a plurality of stationary contacts, a movable contact, and controlling means holding the movable contact normally locked on the home contact while the receiving-telephone is hung up whereby the switch cannot be moved in either direction until the receiver is taken from its support for use, and means operatively connecting said support with the controlling means to throw the same into or out of action by the act of taking down or hanging up the receiver.

2. In a telephoneswitch the combination, with a plurality of stationary contacts includinglthe home contact of the subscriber, and a movable contact, of a locking device and means operatively connecting the same with the subscribers-telephone hook, whereby the movable contact is normally locked on the home cont-act and cannot be moved while the receiver is hung up.

3. In a telephone-switch, a plurality of sta tionary contacts in a circleincluding the home contact of the instrument, a movable contactarm adapted by its movements to connect the instrument with any selected one of the stationary contacts, means for setting and holding the arm thereon, a spring to return the arm to the home contact when released, a dial provided with switch-numbers carried by said armand set by its movements with respect to a sight-aperture to indicate the position of the arm, a telephone-hook, and a locking device operatively connected with the telephonehook and adapted to prevent the contact-arm from being moved in either direction away from the home contact while the receiver is on the hook and to release thesaid arm from operation only after the receiver is removed.

4. In a telephone-switch, the combination of stationary contacts in a circle, a movable contact-arm adapted to travel thereon, means for setting said arm comprising a setting-shaft and gears connecting said shaft and arm, a spring for returning said arm, and a locking device comprising a dog engaging one of the gears to lock the same, a slide, a switch-piece connecting the slide with the dog, atelephonehook, means connecting the telephone-hook with the slide, whereby the same is held down by the hook while the receiver remains on the hook, and a spring adapted to throw up the slide and actuate the switch-piece when the receiver is removed.

5. The combination, with the stationary contacts and the movable contact-arm traveling in a circle on said contacts, of the setting-shaft 2, gears and pinion h 2', dogs 6 7, latches 27 30, and means actuated by the movements of the telephone-hook to throw one of the dogs into action and the other out of action by taking down and by hanging up the receiver, whereby the switch is rendered inoperative when the receiver is on the hook and is released by the act of taking down the receiver for use.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

ALBERT K. ANDRIANO. [L. 5.]

\Vitnesses:

EDWARD E. OSBORN, M. REGNER. 

